


Skull with a Bow

by Lady_Layla



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drunkish Karen Page, F/M, New Year's Eve, One-Shot, Sorry Not Sorry, Soulmarks, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, The soulmate AU no one asked for, i'm kastle trash, kastle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9112435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Layla/pseuds/Lady_Layla
Summary: The soulmate AU no one asked for.In which Frank Castle has two soulmarks. One for Frank, the Marine, father, and loving husband.One for Frank Castle, the Punisher.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Guys! I'm super ridiculous and I'm only a little sorry! I was reading Kastle fanfics and there was a soulmark one and I was thinking about why there aren't more and then I came up with my own headcanon (Linked below)...then I wrote a fic to go with it?! Whoops.
> 
> Soulmate Note: In this AU the soulmark is a tattoo that can be the same or just matching with the same art style. Like Karen and Frank's.  
> Note the second: This is un-beta'd because my awesome Beta is on holiday and I really wanted to post it so all mistakes are mine. If you find anything feel free to comment.
> 
> Enjoy!

It’s 10:30 PM on New Years Eve and Karen is well on her way to being completely and totally blitzed out of her mind.

Finally. Finally, this fucking year can end.

She’s so tired of it and all she wants is a new year and a new start.

Well...as new as anything can get around Hell’s Kitchen anyway.

Her mom had called earlier, as she did on most holidays, and they spoke briefly. Always quick and short ever since...since Kevin.

She knows her mom loves her, loves her right back, but it’s just so hard and it only got harder when her dad died and her mom moved back to California to live with Karen’s Aunt Loraine.

Sighing, she takes another shot of the rum and refills her glass letting her eyes focus on the TV where Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper were hosting the ball dropping event, so her mind can drift.

‘ _Fucking Matt’_ , is the first thing that comes to mind. She’s still mad and blames him for her foul mood all day on Christmas.

He ruined it and she’s pissed, because Karen was actually looking forward to Christmas this year. Then, he had to go and tell her he was fucking Daredevil.

Growling, Karen tosses back another shot  as she forces her thoughts to another direction not wanting to ruin her own New Year’s Eve.  She also promises (again) this is the last time she tries to make a future with someone who doesn’t have her mark.

Absentmindedly she rubs the mark inked onto her hip, the mark that tells her somewhere out in the world, she does in fact have a soulmate. It’s a cute little skull with a bow on top, which she still thinks is hilarious and there was a time in college where she wondered if her soulmate was a woman.

Karen shakes herself out of her thoughts and glances around her apartment. Now that she’s officially on the staff of The Bulletin (“With no degree and no training.” She’d heard the grumbles around the office.) she’s going to have a steady paycheck.

Which means saving up for a new apartment as quickly as she can.

Foggy had actually come by earlier in the week to help her plaster and repaint the bullet holes that were still in her walls, but just being here made her want to crawl out of her own skin sometimes.

Ugh.

She takes a swig straight out of the bottle this time.

She hates being melancholy drunk, preferring  to drink enough that everything ended up being funny.

A few minutes are spent reminiscing about all the late nights she’s had with Foggy at Josie’s and Karen grins. 

There’s a soft scratching noise that has her bolting up, as quickly as she can, and scrambling for her purse where her gun is.

When she turns around, gun in hand and safety off, the window is already open and she almost doesn’t stifle the noise that wants to come out of her mouth.

“Ma’am.”

There’s a full minute of silence and Karen wonders if he can see her hands shaking. She’s not sure if it’s from the alcohol or the shock of seeing him again. Maybe both.

“You going to shoot a dead man?”

Karen snorts, turns the safety back on and drops the gun into the side pocket of her bag.

Frank watches her silently, crouched on her windowsill.

“You look pretty alive to me, Frank.”

She’s not sure what exactly about her demeanor invites him in, but after only a slight hesitation he continues his climb through the window  with a bag  and closes it behind himself.

When he turns back around she’s cross-legged on the floor with her arms crossed too, glaring up at him. He struggles not to snort at her as his eyes glance around her tiny apartment before landing on the half empty bottle of rum.

“What are you doing here?” 

He looks as embarrassed as she’s ever seen him as he rubs the back of his neck,

“I—uh I was hoping I could use your shower?”

An eyebrow raise is the only response he gets.

“My place is being watched.” He finally admits after looking around again. “I just need to change into something less...” he trails off.

“Conspicuous?” Karen prompts, eyeing his Punisher getup.

“Yeah.”

They stare at each other for a few minutes before some emotion, some look flits across his face. There and gone in a second.

And Karen understands.

His first holidays without his family and she wonders if he came around on Christmas Eve or during the day. She’d been so pissed at Matt she’d actually camped out in Ben’s office in hiding.

She sighs, so much for being dead to her.

“Sure.” She waves her hand in the direction of the bathroom and hauls herself up to grab a towel out of the closet next to the bed.

He’s already in the bathroom when she grabs a new one and she opens the door, only to be surprised at how quickly he strips.

“Jesus, Page!” He snatches the towel from her to cover himself, but not before she sees it. A cute little skull inked onto his hip, just like hers but without the bow.

Shit.

Shit.

“Sorry, sorry.” She manages to gasp and stumble out of the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind her.

She lands hard on the couch and just sits for a minute in silence. 

Until she hears the shower start.

Then, Karen Page starts to laugh. She laughs so hard that tears spring to her eyes and she knows she’s actually hysterical. Maybe in shock.

Can finding out your soulmate is a murderer send you into shock?

Probably.

If not she’s sure she can be the exception.

When Frank emerges from  the bathroom in a new set of clothes Karen has regained some of her composure but she’s still giggling a little.

“You—uh okay there?”

She nods at him.

“Right. Well I better go.” He jerks his thumb in the direction of the window and there’s a brief flash in Karen’s mind, wondering if she should tell him.

No.

No. He’s not ready, he might never be ready.

“Goodnight, Frank.”

“Night, Ma’am.”

Karen watches a dead man climb through her window and out into the night as the clock strikes midnight and on the TV the ball drops amid cheers and screaming.

Putting the bottle on top of the fridge, she wonders if the short interaction was enough for him. Or maybe he just wanted to see how she’d react to him showing up again. Either way she hopes he got what he’s looking for because she sure as hell found something she wasn’t hoping for.

As she crawls into bed, Karen finds herself oddly at peace with the fact that she’ll probably never tell Frank Castle that they’re soulmates.

* * *

 

She does tell him though.

A year later, he’s in her new apartment for New Year’s Eve again. Except this time she’s invited him and he used the door. 

Everything’s changed in a year.

Nothing’s changed in a year.

She’s looking at him sprawled out on her couch, a beer dangling in his fingers and she takes a deep breath.

He’s come a long way. He’ll never be over the loss of his family, she knows that, doesn’t want or expect him to be, and he might still not be ready for any kind of relationship, but he might finally be ready to hear that the universe picked out two people who would always love and be there for Frank Castle.

Karen comes out of the kitchen and settles down on the oversized pillow on the floor and looks up at him.

“Do you have a soulmark, Frank?”

He looks at her for a long time and she’s worried he won’t answer when--

“I’ve got two.”

It’s the first time they’ve spoken about soulmarks directly and not as a passing reference.

Karen nods at him. 

“Maria?”

“A little flower on my shoulder. Could never remember the name of the damn thing.”

He gives her a questioning look and Karen takes another deep breath before standing up, tugging up the hem of her shirt, and pulling down slightly on the waistband on her sweatpants.

“The other one look anything like this?”

She hears his sharp inhale and rights her clothing.

“How long have you known?”

His voice is a little gruff and she can’t tell if he’s angry or something else.

“Since last new year’s. When you used my shower.”

“Why?”

Karen shrugs at him. “You weren’t ready?”

“And I’m ready now?”

“Ready to know, maybe. Ready to do anything about it? Maybe not.”

There’s silence as she settles back on the pillow and turns to face the TV, bringing her own beer to her lips and hoping he can’t hear her heart pounding.

“Page?”

“Yeah, Frank?”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

She wonders if this revelation will get him to stay the night for once, but she’s not surprised to wake up alone the next morning.

Although the room is cleaned up, there’s fresh coffee in the pot, and Karen thinks that for now...it’s good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> [Headcanon](http://www.artemisgarden.tumblr.com/post/155140711135/kastle-headcanon)  
>   
> 
> ALSO LOOK AT THIS! THIS ISN'T KAREN'S TATTOO BUT I FOUND IT ON GOOGLE
> 
>  


End file.
